CA1037376A

CA1037376A - Apparatus and method for perforating roofing sheet material

Info

Publication number: CA1037376A
Application number: CA243,741A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Michael P. Krenick; Duane A. Davis
Original assignee: GAF Corp
Current assignee: GAF Corp
Priority date: 1975-04-10
Filing date: 1976-01-19
Publication date: 1978-08-29
Also published as: FR2306803B1; DE2611075A1; FR2306803A1; GB1507101A; JPS51118189A; JPS5728636B2; NL7603765A; US3983773A

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure The apparatus of the present invention comprises at least one hole-punching device operated by a pneumatic cylinder for driving a punch rod through the peripheral surface and radially to the center of a roll of roofing sheet material. The method of the invention provides for the steps of preparing the sheet roofing material, winding the sheet into a roll, and punching a plurality of perforation holes in the roll from the surface to the center thereof.

Description

1037~:i7E;
~aclcground of the Inve!l ion The prese~t invention relates generally to the field of manufacture and preparation of roofing sheet material, generally of the asphalt type, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for forming a plurality of holes in the roofing material.
Sheet roofing material is usually prepared by treating a web of roofing felt with asphalt so as to saturate the felt.
It is presently desirable to provide the treated web of sheet roofing material with a number of holes or apertures to provide means of escape for air or vapor so that such air or vapor will not be trapped under the roofing material during installation on a roof. A variety of prior art devices and techniques have been employed for the purpose of providing the desired holes or aper-tures.
One such prior art technique for perforating the webof sheet roofing material involves the use of a needle roll or cylinder and an opposed grooved-in wire brush roll so that the web of sheet material may be passed therebetween and needles carried on the needle roll will penetrate the roofing material so as to form the perforations. The insertion of the needles into the sheet material, however, only causes a separation of the roof-ing material with little or no removal of the material by the - needles. Consequently, the holes formed by the insertion of the needles will have a tendency to close up as a result of forces applied to the sheet material during further treating or manufac-turing processes, to be performed on the web, such as further .' ~

.. . .. . .

~3~6 rolling or winding the web into rolls. As a result, this method has been found to be unsatisfactory since air or vapor may yet be trapped under the roofing ~naterial during installation on a roof.
A further prior art technique is to utilize a cutting knife mounted on a cutting roll including a surface with a leading end cu~ting edge and a trailing end cutting edge so that sections of the web of sheet material will be cut-out by the knife element thus removing a certain amount of sheet material from the web.
This technique is an improvement over the needle roll technique since the cut-out areas will not completely close up during the winding of the material into rolls because of compressive forces applied thereto. This technique, however, has the further dis-` advantages of producing waste and requiring complicated and - 15 expensive cutting machinery to be employed in the treating or manufacturing process.
The prior art techniques have the further disadvantage of being used during the in-line treating or manufacturing of the sheet material, prior to winding or rolling so that the speed of the manufacturing operation may be hindered or affected by the cutting or needle insertion operation. Further, the prior art ` techniques require that the devices used to perforate the sheet material be an integral part of the manufacturing process and be performed while the roofing material is in web form so that it can only be done at a particular stage in the treating or manufacturing operation~

~373q~

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of forming perforation holes in sheet material comprisng the steps of winding said sheet material into a roll, transporting said roll to a hole punching station, securely positioning said roll of sheet material at said hole punching station by applying a force thereto, simultaneously driving a plurality of punch rods axially spaced along said roll radially through said rolled shee~ material simultaneously forming a plurality of apertures in successive wound layers of said sheet material permitting unrolling of said roll of sheet material so that said apertures will be positioned in rows and columns of the unwound sheet, and withdrawing said punch rods from said roll of sheet material substantially avoiding engagement with and tearing surrounding edges of said apertures.
Specifically, the method of the invention for forming perforation holes in sheet material comprises the s~eps of winding said sheet material into a roll9 transporting said roll to a hole punching station, driving a punch rod radially through said rolled sheet material, and withdrawing said punch rod therefrom, thereby forming a plurality of holes simultaneously in the wound layers of said sheet material.
Additionally, the apparatus of the presen~ invention for forming perforation holes in roofing sheet matarial in roll form comprising a support, a plurality of penumatic cylinders moveably carried on said support, a punch rod connected to and operated by each of said cylinders, means connected to each of said cylinders for simultaneously driving said punch rods to an ex- ~
tended position, means connected to said cylinders for simultaneously with- ~;
drawing said punch rods from said extended position, a turret carried on said support, at least one spindle arm carried on said turret for movement between a loading station and a punching station positioned with respect to said punch rods, means connected to said turret for indexing said turret so that said spindle arm is moved to said position for punching, and means ~; 30 carried on said support for locking said spindle arm in secure position when - _ 3 _ said spindle arm is moved ~ ~ ?e punching position, so that when said punch rods are extended said rods will penetrate said roll of sheet material in a radial direction so as to form perforation holes therein, said means for indexing said turret comprising a brake-clutch supported on said support having input and output means, means connected to said input means for driv-ing said brake-clutch, said output means comprising a shaft and having a first sprocket wheel secured thereto, a second sprocket wheel secured to said turret, a drive chain connected between said first and second sprocket wheels for driving said turret when said brake-clutch is operated by drive means connected to said input means.
In a preferred embodiment the present invention provides an apparatus for forming a plurality of perforations in roofing sheet material while said roofing sheet material is in roll form comprising, a support;
first and second moveable frames carried on said support; a first plurality -of punch rod driving penumatic cylinders carried on said first moveable frame in in-line spaced apart relationship and oriented so that each of said punch rods is arranged for punching movement in a first direction; a second :~;
plurality of punch rod driving penumatic cylinders carried on said second moveable frame in in-line spaced apart relationship and oriented so that each of said punch rods of said second plurality of pneumatic cyclinders is arranged for punching movement in a second direction opposite to that of said first direction; a turret carried on said support; a spindle arm radially carried on said t.urret for supporting thereon said roll of roofing sheet material; means connected to said turret for rotatably indexing said turret so that said spindle arm is moved between a loading station for receiving said roll and a punching station positioned between said first and second moveable frames; means carried on said support for locking said spindle arm in secure position when said spindle arm is moved to the punching position; means for moving said moveable frames toward each other when said spindle arm carrying a roll of sheet material is positioned at .. . ,. ; ~ . .. : . ., ~0373~7$

said punching station; means carried by said moveable frames for engaging and immobilizing said roll when said frames are moved toward each oth0r; and means connected to each of said cylinders for simultaneously driving said puneh rods to an extended position when said roll carried by said spindle arm is in position between said moveable frames to receive said punch rods, so that said first and second plurality of punch rods will penetrate said roll simultaneously from opposite directions thereby forming a plurality of perforation holes in each convoluted layer of said sheet material. ~ -~
There follows a detailed description of preferred embodiments of ~he invention to be read together with the accompanying drawings wherein~
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the :~
present invention arranged for forming perforation holes in a roll of sheet material;
Figure 2 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 showing a plurality ~ :
of hole punching devices used to simultaneously operate on different positions of the rolled sheet material;
Figure 3 is a side elevational view of an apparatus for simul-taneously forming a series of perfora~ions in a roll of sheet material ~ ~
supported on a spindle of a turret mechanism arranged for indexing between `
loading, punching and removal stations, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines IV-IV
.
of Figure 3; and ~ :
Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along lines V-V of Figure 3. ~:
Referring now in more detail to the accompanying drawingsJ the basic elements and principles of the present invention can be understood from Figure 1 which shows in perspective and somewhat '.;

.~.... - ~a -.~ " .

~ 373'76 schematic from an arrangement o~ the appar~tus of the present invention in a simple embodiment for pu~ching perforation holes in a roll of sheet material.
In the embodiment of Figure l, a roll of roofing or S other sheet material 1 is positioned on a support or platform 11 with respect to the hole punching apparatus designated gene-rally as 2. The apparatus comprises a pneumatic cylinder 4 w~hich may be carried on a frame 7 for support above the platform 11. A punch rod 6 is carried by the cylinder for movement toward or away from the roll as indicated by double headed arrow A.
The punch rod 6 may be connected to a piston 5 carried within the cylinder 4 in a typical manner. A source of pressurized fluid 3 is connected to a main conduit 8 to provide the necessary actua-ting pressure to the pneumatic cylinder 4. A valve 12 is posi-tioned so that when a selection lever 13 is in a first positionpressurized fluid will flow from conduit 8 into conduit branch 9 and to vent conduit branch 10 to the atmosphere so as to provide actuating pressure to the cylinder forcing the piston and connected punch rod 6 in a downward direction so that punch rod 6 will be inserted into the roll of sheet material 1 positioned thereunder.
Lever 13 then may be manually moved to the opposite position of valve 12 so that the pressurized fluid will enter conduit 10 providing actuating pressure to the other side of the piston within the cyIinder 4 so as to drive the piston and connected punch rod 6 in an upward direction thus retracting the punch rod from the roll of sheet material. The valve 12 is self-bleeding so that the unpressurized end of the cylinder will be at atmospheric -73~7~
pressure when the valve is in a position Eor pressurizing ~he other end o~ the cylinder. Depending upon the positioning of the support table ll and the cylinder ~ with respect thereto, the punch rod 6 will be allowed to be inserted to any desired S depth of the roll of sheet material. When lever 13 is in a neutral position (as shown in the drawings) valve 12 will cause atmospheric pressure to be supplied to both branch conduits 9 and 10 so that the piston 5 within the cylinder 4 will remain in the last achieved position.
Axial movement of the sheet material 1 either to the right or to the left (as viewed in the Figure, in the directions indicated by arrow ~), will reposition the roll with respect to the punch so that a series of perforated holes al, bl, cl, etc. can be provided axially along the roll.
Further, the roll may be rotated in the directions of arrow D
so as to provide circumferentially positioned apertures c2, C3, ~-etc. at any desired position on the roll. In this mannerl by manual or other means for repositioning of the roll, the desired number and placement of perforation holes can be provided in the sheet material so that when the sheet material is unrolled for installation the desired perforations will provide means of escape of trapped vapor or air from underneath the sheet material.
A plate 14 having an opening 15 may be used to immobilize ~ the roll of shee-t material during the punching process. Additional ; 25 external forces F may be applied to the plate 14 for maintaining the roll in the desired position. Force F may be applied by pneumatic means and may be coupled to valve 12 so that upon ~0373q~
retraction of the punch rocl 6 ~rom the roll, ~orce l will be removed ro~ the plate ~or release of the roll. A]~ernatively, force F may be applied independently so as to maintain pressure on the roll during removal of the punch rod ~rom the roll.
Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which a series of pneumatic cylinders 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d are arranged in tandem so that rows a, b, c and d of perforated ; holes may be provided in the roll 1 of sheet material. As in the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the roll 1 may be supported on a platform 11 and held securely in place by a plate 16 with forces F applied thereto. The force F may be supplied by appropriate mechanical clamping means or by pressure from separate pneumatic means. Separate pneumatic means may however be connected to the main source of fluid supply, so that forces applied to the plate will be synchronized with application of pressure to the piston of the various cylinders. As previously noted, this plate may be maintained in position to immobilize the roll during removal of the rods.
Each of the cylinders is provided with a punch rod 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d respectively for insertion into the roll of sheet material upon actuation of the pistons within the respective cylinders. Each of the push rods are actuated simultaneously by positioning lever 13 of valve 12 into the appropriate direction (arrow B) so the pneumatic pressure is applied to one side of the piston within the cylinder in order to drive the push rod downward.
Upon completio~ of the downward stroke, the lever 13 is moved to the opposite position of valve 12 so as to vent the top side of the cylinder and apply pressure through branch conduit 10 to .

, .. . .

1o~37 3~ ~
the individual concluits lOa, lOb, lOc an~l lOd so as to retract the push rods o~ each cylinder from Lhe roll.
In this manner the rows of perforation holes can be rapidly and simultaneously applied to the roll of sheet material simply by rotating the roll in the direction of arrow D to the position desired.
~he arrangement shown in Figure 2 provides means for rapid perforation o desired holes in rolled sheet material subsequent to any manufacturing process, completely independent therefro~l and in a relatively inexpensive and portable manner.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 show a practical embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment provides for a substantially C-shaped frame including a pair of lower beams 21, 21', arranged in side-by-side parallel relationship secured together by braces therebetween, (such as brace 75 between beams 21, 21' - see Figure 4) a pair of upper beams 23, 23' and a pair of upstanding beams 22, 22'.
Beams 23, 23' and 22, 22' are arranged in a manner similar to beams 21, 21'. Beams 22, 22' are connected between beams 21, 21' and 23, 23' at one end of each of the upper and lower beams (to the left as shown in Figure 3). Upper and lower beams 21, 21'; 23, 23' are arranged parallel to each other and at right angles to the upstandîng beams 22, 22'.
A pair of lower rails 24 and 25 are supported from the lower beams 21, 21' located substantially between beam 21 and beam 21' and carried thereon as by a brace bolted, welded or otherwise secured between the lower beams. Similarly, a pair of rails 26, 27 are supported from the upper beams 23, 23' such as by bolting, welding or otherwise securing to a brace carried between the upper beams.
The lower rails 24, 25 and the upper rails 26~27 extend in a direction .~ ...... . . - - . . . ..

~(lD373r~6 substantiaLly perpendicular to the upper and lower beams respectively.
Rails 24 and 26 may be further supported between the upstanding beams 22 and 22' while rails 25 and 27 may also ~e additionally supported in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter.
A lower moveable frame re~erred to generally as numeral 28 and an upper moveable frame referred to generally as reference numeral 48 are carried between the lower rails 24, 25 and the upper rails 26, 27 respectively. The lower and upper frames 28 and 48 are arranged for movement in a direction perpendicular to the lower and upper beams in a manner to be described more fully.
Lower frame 28 generally comprises a pair of first cross members 29, 29', and a pair o second cross members 30, 30'. The cross members 29, 29' and 30, 30' are supported on columns 31 and 32, with cross members 29 and 30 visible in Figure 3, members 29' and 30' being supported on the other side of columns 31 and 32 not visible in Figure 3. The cross members may be secured on the columns by welding or other suitable means such as by bolts at 33 thus forming a rigid frame comprising the two sets of cross members and the columns.
Column 31 is provided with brackets 34 and 35, while column 32 is provided with brackets 36 and 37. Each of the brackets 34, 35, 36 and 37 carries a wheel 39 ratatably mounted thereon for riding ` angagement upon the rails 24 and 25. A top cross member 39 is carried between the columns 31 and 32. The cross member 39 is provided with a slotted opening 40,for reasons to be discussed more fully hereinafter~and a guide block 41 is secured to the top cross member 39 such as by welding~ A curved plate 42 is supported on the guide block 41 such as by welding or other suitable means and extends the entire length of the top cross member 39 for performing a function similar to that described with respect to plates 14 and 16 shown in the embodiments o Figures 1 and 2 respectively.

; . ., , .~. . ;
r" ~

~)373r~6 In a similar manner, upper frame 48 generally comprises cross members 49, 49' and 50,50' similarly secured to columns 51 and 52 as by bolts 53. Brackets 54, 55, 56 and 57 support wheels 58 so that the upper frame 48 can ride along upper rails 26 and 27.
Also, as with lower frame 28, the upper frame is provided with a top cross member 59 having a slot 60, a guide block 61 and a curved plate 62.
The roLl of sheet material to be perforated will be positioned by the apparatus to be described more fully hereinafter between lower curved plate 42 and upper curved plate 62 and will be respectively engaged by plates 42, 62 to be securely held in position during the hole punching operation.
Pneumatic cylinders 70 and 71 are employed for causing movement of lower frame 28 into a position in which plate 42 will lS engage the roll of sheet material, while cylinders 90 and 91 are similarly employed to operate upper frame 48 so that it is moved in a manner such that plate 52 will also engage the roll to be operated upon.
Cylinders 70 and 71 at one end thereof are secured between lower beams 21, 21' while one end of cylinders 90 and 91 are secured between upper beams 23, 23'. Each of the cylinders 70, 71, 90 and 91 carries a bifurcated extension 72 which is secured by bolts 73 to an upstand~ng flange 74 carried on a cross-brace 75 which is securely bolted between lower beams 21 and 21' as by bolts 76. Each of the ` 25 cylinders 70, 71, 90 and 91 is provided with a piston 77 which carries an extension 78 which is coupled to a bifurcated frame 79 by bolts 80. The bi~urcated frame 79 supported on cross-brace 81 by welding, bolting or other suitable fastening means. Cross brace 81 associated with cylinders 70 and 71 is secured to cross members 30 and 30' of the lower moveable frame 28 by bolts 82, while cross - 10 ' ..... ! ' ' brace 81 associatecl with cy~inclér.s ~0 ~ncl 9l is secure(l by bolts 82 to cross members 50 and 50' of upper frame 48. In this manner upper and lower frames 28 and 48 are supported for movement on rails 24, 25, and 26, 27 respectively by coupling to the cross braces 81 connected to the pistons of the respective cylinders 70, 71 and 90, 91. Accordingly, when pistons 70 and 71 are actuated their pistons 77 will be extended causing lower ~rame 28 to move in an upward direction as shown in Figure 3. Similarly, when cylinders 90 and 91 are actuated their respective plstons 77 will be extended causing upper frame 48 to move in a downward direction.
Pneumatic operating fluid is supplied to the cylinder 70 and 71, 90 and 9L through appropriate conduit means 83 which may be connected to a source of pressurized fluid. The cylinders 70, 71, ~ and 91 may be operated simultaneously so that curved plates 42 and 62 will be advanced toward each other at the same time for securely position-ing a roll of sheet material therebetween during the punching operation.
The punching operation is accomplished by a plurality of punch rods actuated in a manner similar to that described with reference to Figures 1 or 2, In the present embodiment a plurality of punch rods are located both above and below the roll of sheet material to be punched so that a more uniform spacing o~ perfora~ion holes can be provided in the sheet material. Further, such an arrangement eliminates the need for rotatin~ the roll or other repositioning of the roll in order to provide a sufficient number Of perforations, The ho:Le punching operation for perforating the roll of sheet material from below is accomplished by punch rods 84, 85 and 86 which are actuated by pneumatic cyLind~rs 94, 95 96 respectively supported on the lower moveable frame 28, The punching operation - ~V37;3~6 from above the roll is accomplished by punch rods 87, 88, 89 actuated by pneumatic cylinders 97, 98, 99 respectively carried on upper moveable frame 48.
After the upper and lower frames have been moved into clamping position with respect to a roll of sheet material to be punched, the respective punch rods for the upper and lower frames will be actuated and driven through to the center of the roll for completely perforating each convoluted layer of sheet material.
For this purpose, pressure switches or micro switches may 10 be carried on the curved plates to detect proper contact with the roll so as to actuate switch means for energizing the pneumatic punching cylinders. This may be accomplished by appropriate switches in the conduits connected to each of the punching cylinders for supplying actuating fluid thereto such as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Each of the pneumatic punch cylinders 94, 95, 96 are supp-orted on the lower frame 28 between cross members 29, 29', and `-similarly each of the pneumatic cyllnders 97, 98, 99 are supported on the upper moveable frame 48 between cross members 49, 49'. Also, each of the punch rods 84, 85, 86 is supported and guided through guide block 41, while each of the punch rvds 87, 88, 89 is supported and guided through guide block 61. The manner of supporting the punch cyllnders on their respective cross frames, and the manner of supporting the punch rods in the guide blocks will be described in greater detail in connection with Figure 5 which shows a view of pneumatic cylinder 95. It will be understood that each of the other cylinders is supported in an identical manner. Accordingly, reference numerals are omitted in Figure 3 to the identical elements as described with respect to cylinder 95 for purposes of clarity and to avoid confusion in the figure.

Cylinder 95 carries a bifurcated frame extension 101 which ~03~3'76 is secured as by bolt~ 102 to an upstancling flange 103 of a frame member 104 which i9 secured to a cross brace 105 either by bolting or by welding. The cross brace 105 is secured between cross members 29, 29' of the lower frame 28 by bolts 106 so that ~he cylinder 95 is securely supported between the cross members of the frame.
Cylinder 95 carries a piston 108 with a coupling 109 for supporting ~he punch rod 85. The top cross member 39 is provided with a slotted opening 40 to allow passage of the punch rod 85 therethrough when the cylinder 95 is actuated. Guide block 41, carried on the top cross member 39, (and similarly guide block 61 carried on cross member 59 of the upper frame 48) is provided with threaded openings 43 for receiving a threaded guide sleeve 44 having a central bore 45 through which punch rod 85 is guided during the punching operation. The guide sleeve 44 is removeable from the opening 43 in the guide block so that one having a different sized bore may be inserted in its place to accommodate and guide a punch rod having a different diameter when perforation holes of a different size are desired to be made in the sheet material. The curved plate 42 of the lower frame 28 is also provided with a slot 46 to allow passage of the various punch rods therethrough. Similarly, curved plate 62 is provided with a slot 66.
The rolls of sheet material to be punched are carried and supported for movement to the punching station on one of a plurality of spindle arms carried for indexing movement on a turret assembly referred to generally as numeral 110. The assembly generally comprises a hub 111 carried on a collar 112 which is secured to a main column I13. The column 113 is secured by base plates 114 and 115 between the lower beams 21, 21' and the upper beams 23, 23' respectively. The base plates 114 and 115 are preferably secured between the upper and lower beams by welding so that the C-shaped frame formed by beams 21, 21'; 22, 22'; and 23, 23' is rendered rigid ` - 13 -, ~ .. : . , 10373r~6 and undesirable bending moments are avoided.
Hub 111 o:E the turret is provided with a plurality of spindle arms, three of which are shown in Figure 3, 116, 117, and 118. The hub 111 may be formed so as to accommodate any convenient number of spindle arms such as 4, 6 or 8 depending upon the speed of operation of the apparatus and the various operating stations desired. For example, when the turret is in the positi.on shown in Figure 3, loading of a roll of sheet material may be taking place on spindle arm 117 while the spindle arm 116 is in the punching position between the upper and lower frames 28 and 48.
The variou~ spindles are provided with a plurality of partial bores 120 for receiving the ends of the various ~ul-lch rods after they have extended through the center of the roll of sheet material.
Lower rail 25 and upper rail 27 may be additionally supported by split collars 65 and 67 respectively about the main column 113.
One-half of the collars 65 and 67 may be secured to the rails by `. welding or other appropriate fastening means, and the two halves of.: the collars may be secured together such as by bolting with bolts 63.
Indexing of the turret 110 ~o bring the various spindle arms carrying the rolls of sheet material for perfora.tion into the punching position is accomplished through operation of a brake-clutch 121. The brake-clutch 121 is supported on a frame 122 which is carried between the lower beams 21, 21'. The input shaft 123 of the brake-clutch 121 is driven by a sprocket wheel 125 carried thereon which is driven by a chain 126 operated by a remote driving motor.
Output shaft 124 carries a sprocket wheel 127 and collar 112 carries a ~procket wheel 129. Drive chain 128 is carried between ~ .~37376 sproclce~ wheels 127 ancl 129 ~or rota~ably clriving the collar about the column 113 for rotatably indexing turre~ 110 wllen the brake-clutch 121 is operated through the remote drive motor.
Appropriate automatic control means may be used ~or timing the positioning and indexing of the turret so that when a spindle arm of the turret is moved to the punching position between frames 28 and 48, appropriate switch means will be operated for providing pressurized fluid through conduits 83 so that cylinders 70 and 71 and cylinders 90, 91 will be simultaneously actuated to move lower frame 28 and upper frame 48 toward each other so that curved plates 42 and 62 respectively will engage the outer peripheral surface of a roll of sheet material supported on spindle arm 116 so as to immobilize such roll for receiving the punch rods. Appropriate pressure sensitive switch means, or other timing devices will also be utilized to actuate the respective punch rod pneumatic cylinders carried on the lower and upper frames respectively so that the punch rods will be operated to penetrate the roll thus producing the various perforations.
A source of pressurized actuating fluid is simultaneously provided to the punching cylinders 94, 95, 96 and 97, 98, 99 in a manner similar to that described with reference to the embodiment shown in Figure 2 but not further described in Figure 3. Accor-dingly, after the punching operation has taken place the punch rods will be withdrawn from the roll of sheet material by either manually switching the valve in the pressure fluid line such as shown in Figures 1 and 2 or by appropriate timed switching means. After removal of the punch rods upper and lower frames 28 and 48 will be moved apart by appropriate valve switching means in the conduits 83 .... .. . .. . . . .................................... .
:- . . ..

~373~
so tha~ cylinders 70, 71 and 90, 91 wîll cause its r)istons 77 to be withdrawn. In this manner a complete punching operation is accomplished andappropriate cQntroL means will cause indexing of the turret 110 so that the roll which has been punched will be indexed to a removal station while a spindle arm, such as arm 118 carrying the next roll will be movecl into the punching position.
In order to insure that the spindle arm carrying the roll to be perforated is securely positioned in the punching station an arm holding frame comprising upper bracket 130 and lower bracket 131 may be carried on the vertically positioned beams 22, 22'.
Additionally, appropriate locking means 132, supported for axial movement between beams 22, 22' may be operated in the direction of arrow 133 so that a socket portion 134 will engage a locking element 135 carried on the ends of the various spindle arms. The arrange-15 ment shown herein is only representative of the various types o~
locking arrangements which may be provided and other means for securely positioning the spindle arm in the punching station may be provided.
The foregoing description of the practical embodiment shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 provides a very efficien~ and preferred apparatus for performing the hole punching operations described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Because punching cylinders are arranged both above and below the roll to be punched, further repositioning or placement of the roll either axially or rotatably is not necessary and successive punching operations on other rolls of sheet material can be rapidly carried out by appropriate index-ing o~ the turret arrangement.
It should be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention provides a method and means for perforating .. . . . - ., . -~ ~ ~

10373'';~B
sheet material whicil overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art in that the perforated holes should not subsequently close up since no further rolling or manufacturing processes will take place so that no further forces are applied to the roll causing the holes to close. Further, the present invention provides de-sirable means for applying such perforation holes in the sheet material remote from any manufacturing process and independent thereof.
While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a certain preferred embodiment which gives satisfactory results, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the purpose of the invention, Lhat various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the epirit and scope of the invention.

, ,

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method of forming perforation holes in sheet material comprising the steps of winding said sheet material into a roll, transporting said roll to a hole punching station, securely positioning said roll of sheet material at said hole punching station by applying a force thereto, simultaneously driving a plurality of punch rods axially spaced along said roll radially through said rolled sheet material simultaneously forming a plurality of apertures in successive wound layers of said sheet material permitting un-rolling of said roll of sheet material so that said apertures will be positioned in rows and columns of the unwound sheet, and withdrawing said punch rods from said roll of sheet material substantially avoiding engage-ment with and tearing surrounding edges of said apertures.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step of transporting said roll to a hole punching station includes the step of indexing said roll from a loading station to said hole punching station.

3. The method according to claim 2 further comprising the step of radially moving a pair of roll supporting plates from opposite directions into peripheral contact with said roll when said roll is positioned at said hole punching station for securely positioning said roll at said hole punching station.

4. The method according to claim 1 comprising the additional step of rotating said roll of sheet material after said punch rods have been withdrawn therefrom, and driving said plurality of punch rods simultaneously radially into said roll of sheet material to form a second series of apertures in successively wound layers of said sheet material.

5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the additional step of axially repositioning said roll of sheet material after said plurality of punch rods have been withdrawn therefrom, and driving said plurality of punch rods simultaneously radially into said roll of sheet material to form a second series of apertures in successively wound layers of said sheet material.

6. An apparatus for forming a plurality of perforations in roofing sheet material while said roofing sheet material is in roll form comprising a support, a plurality of pneumatic cylinders moveably carried on said support, a punch rod connected to and operated by each of said cylinders, means connected to each of said cylinders for simultaneously driving said punch rods to an extended position, means connected to said cylinders for simultaneously withdrawing said punch rods from said extended position, a turret carried on said support, at least one spindle arm carried on said turret for movement between a loading station and a punching station positioned with respect to said punch rods, means connected to said turret for indexing said turret so that said spindle arm is moved to said position for punching, and means carried on said support for locking said spindle arm in secure position when said spindle arm is moved to the punching position, so that when said punch rods are extended said rods will penetrate said roll of sheet material in a radial direction so as to form perforation holes therein, said means for indexing said turret comprising a brake-clutch supported on said support having input and output means, means connected to said input means for driving said brake-clutch, said output means comprising a shaft and having a first sprocket wheel secured thereto, a second sprocket wheel secured to said turret, a drive chain connected between said first and second sprocket wheels for driving said turret when said brake-clutch is operated by drive means connected to said input means.

7. An apparatus for forming a plurality of perforations in roofing sheet material while said roofing sheet material is in roll form comprising, a support; first and second moveable frames carried on said support; a first plurality of punch rod driving penumatic cylinders carried on said first moveable frame in in-line spaced apart relationship and oriented so that each of said punch rods is arranged for punching movement in a first direction;
a second plurality of punch rod driving pneumatic cylinders carried on said second moveable frame in in-line spaced apart relationship and oriented so that each of said punch rods of said second plurality of pneumatic cylinders is arranged for punching movement in a second direction opposite to that of said first direction; a turret carried on said support; a spindle arm radially carried on said turret for supporting thereon said roll of roofing sheet material; means connected to said turret for rotatably indexing said turret so that said spindle arm is moved between a loading station for receiving said roll and a punching station positioned between said first and second moveable frames; means carried on said support for locking said spindle arm in secure position when said spindle arm is moved to the punching position;
means for moving said moveable frames toward each other when said spindle arm carrying a roll of sheet material is positioned at said punching station;
means carried by said moveable frames for engaging and immobilizing said roll when said frames are moved toward each other; and means connected to each of said cylinders for simultaneously driving said punch rods to an extended position when said roll carried by said spindle arm is in position between said moveable frames to receive said punch rods, so that said first and second plurality of punch rods will penetrate said roll simultaneously from opposite directions thereby forming a plurality of perforation holes in each convoluted layer of said sheet material.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said means for moving said moveable frames comprises at least one pneumatic cylinder secured to said support having piston means secured to said moveable frame so that upon actuation of said cylinder said frame will be advanced toward the other frame.

9. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for engaging and immobilizing said roll comprises a curved plate carried on each of said moveable frames for engaging the peripheral surface of said roll of sheet material supported on said spindle so that when said moveable frames are advanced toward each other said curved plates will engage the surface of said roll for immobilizing said roll during the punching operation.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said means for moving said moveable frames further comprises a pair of rails supported on said support for each of said moveable frames, and a plurality of wheels for riding engagement with said rails rotatably carried on each of said moveable frames.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8 further comprising a guide block carried on each of said moveable frames, removeable guide means carried in said removeable guide block having an axial bore therethrough for receiving and guiding said punch rods therethrough, and means for removing and in-serting said guide means from said guide block so that guide means having different sized bores for accommodating different sized punch rods may be inserted therein.